Ryoma's Way of Affection
by RoyaleDeuce
Summary: Sakuno found a new habit of naming objects. Ryoma found a new hatred towards rabbits and insects — RyomaSakuno


**Ryoma's Way of Affection**  
_**by:**__ RoyaleDeuce_

**Disclaimer: **TeniPuri is not mine.  
**Warning: **_C-R-A-C-K_! Do not take it seriously to enjoy.

* * *

"… Class Insecta is the largest and most diverse class in the animal kingdom. The number of described insect species is estimated to be 750,000…"

_Must open eyes… _Echizen Ryoma had been struggling ever since the start of the class to stay awake. _Must not flunk test… _The boy emitted a long yawn which he had continually suppressed all this time. He was very bored. The video they were watching at the moment contained nothing but the gross and disgusting insects which gathered all together and made themselves look even worse. Who could possibly be interested in this topic anyway?

"Oh," A pleasant voice said. Ryoma looked to where the voice came from and found himself looking at Ryuuzaki Sakuno. The girl had her hands clasped together while looking all fascinated and amazed.

Could it possibly be? Yup. Sakuno was fascinated by all the insects, wriggling altogether looking completely—

"Yes?" The biology teacher spoke up and seemed to be talking to a particular someone. It was Horio. He had his hand raised.

"M-May I (mph) g-go to the r-restroom?" The teacher immediately dismissed him. As soon as some light was shed on his face, that was the only time Ryoma noticed his slight greenish color.

"Yech! That's so gross!" Another familiar voice emerged "Sakuno-chan, how can you stand watching all this?" Osakada Tomoka asked her best friend who merely smiled in response.

"Hn."

He could never understand girls. Especially Ryuuzaki Sakuno.

* * *

_Not so long ago…_

"Merry Christmas, Ryuuzaki…" Fuji Syusuke handed Sakuno a Christmas present wrapped in pink wrapper and tied with a red ribbon. The girl gratefully accepted the gift while blushing a bit.

"Arigatou, Fuji-senpai," Sakuno smiled sweetly after which she stared at the object in her hand. "Ano… Can I open it now?"

"Of course," Fuji smiled.

Sakuno excitedly unwrapped the present. It was a cute, pink bunny stuff toy. She gasped and immediately turned to Fuji with a big bright smile. "Arigatou!"

"Nya! My turn! My turn!" Eiji excitedly entered the scene with a pink glittered paper bag at hand. "For cute, little Sakuno-chan!" He handed the gift the girl who immediately opened the bag after a grateful 'Arigatou'.

Her eyes comically twinkled when her gaze landed on the red-head's present. It was an adorable, chestnut coloured teddy bear. "Arigatou, Kikumaru-senpai!" she exclaimed happily.

The entire duration of the exchanging of gifts last Christmas, Ryoma had been silent in a corner with the dilemma of giving Sakuno his present or not. He sighed after several minutes of thinking. Probably he'll just hand the present to Ryuuzaki-sensei to save him the hassle of giving it to Sakuno.

"Yo, Echizen!" called Momoshiro. Ryoma greeted his quickly approaching senpai with a nod. "Why are you here all alone?"

The tennis prince shrugged off the question and continued to watch the exchanging of gifts from the lowered brim of his cap.

Momoshiro did not take offense at his kouhai's cold shoulder. "Do you have a gift for Ryuuzaki-san?" he asked casually. "After giving us those bomb handmade gifts, it's quite rude if you don't give her a gift in return." He threw a cheeky glance at the silent boy beside him.

"Hn," Ryoma replied.

"Ah, if you continue to be like that, you're going to be so out of place!" Momoshiro remarked all of a sudden.

"Huh?" This perked Ryoma up.

Momoshiro was currently pointing at the unfolding scene in front of them.

Ryoma could hear Sakuno say, "This is Fuji," she pointed at the pink rabbit Fuji had given her. "Eiji," she pointed at the teddy bear. "Momo," The white stuffed-puppy. "Kaidoh," A snake.

Momoshiro burst into laughter at this one. But Ryoma ignored him and resumed listening to the girl. He couldn't help himself. Even if it was a complete nonsense to name objects, he somewhat found it… adorable. And it was okay since it was Sakuno doing it… _Bah! _Ryoma shook his head in confusion.

"This is Kawamura," Sakuno pointed at an orange stuffed-cat. "This is Inui," the girl pointed at a penguin. "Oishi," Sakuno pointed at a rainbow-colored fish stuff toy. Kikumaru snickered, but Oishi merely blushed. "And Tezuka," she pointed at an extremely large yellow stuffed-owl.

Ryoma sweatdropped. Sakuno had actually named objects after the Seigaku regulars... save for him.

_Tch._

* * *

"Obaa-chan!" Sakuno came running towards Sumire after tennis practice one day. She was bringing Fuji (mind you, it was the bunny) along with her. "You'll be accompanying me to the town square this afternoon, right?" she asked expectantly.

Sumire scratched the side of her cheek rather sheepishly. "Ah... Sa-chan. I still haven't finished all the paperwork. I'm sorry," she apologized, leaving Sakuno slightly crestfallen.

"Ah, it's alright," Sakuno recovered and smiled.

"Maybe I can just ask someone else to accompany you then," Sumire offered kindly. "Echizen!"

* * *

"Arigatou, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno said shyly to the silent boy who had accompanied her in the town square. Ryoma didn't respond to the girl and just kept walking.

Sakuno sighed as she let the boy go ahead of her and trailed behind. She hugged the pink rabbit near her chest to ease her tension.

An awkward silence ensued.

Then Ryoma broke it all of a sudden, regarding the girl over his shoulder, "Why do you like that rabbit so much?"

Sakuno blushed. "A-Ano… It's very cute..." Sakuno replied softly, slightly embarrassed at Ryoma's attention.

"Hn," He diverted his gaze back towards the path, "Carrying dolls around is childish," he remarked crudely.

Sakuno suddenly burst into tears and ran ahead of Ryoma.

The samurai junior was taken aback at Sakuno's sudden outburst, not understanding why the girl had cried and ran off.

Out of nowhere, someone grabbed his shirt. "Ah! Echizen! You always make Ryuuzaki-san cry!" Momoshiro commented as he glared daggers at the boy.

"Stupid o'chibi!" Kikumaru suddenly popped out of nowhere.

"Love relationship, 0 percent," Inui remarked while scribbling on his handy dandy notebook.

"What are you doing here?!" Echizen snarled at his senpai-tachi.

"Apologize to her!" Kikumaru and Momoshiro cried at the same time.

Ryoma sighed in defeat. "But where did—"

"100 percent in the park," Inui grinned, shutting his notebook close.

* * *

"Here," Ryoma said, handing the can of Ponta to the auburn-head's general direction.

Sakuno looked up. Embarrassed for crying, she immediately wiped off her tears, gratefully accepted the Ponta and thanked the boy. Ryoma plopped beside the girl on the bench and made himself comfortable. Silence enveloped the two.

Sakuno hugged the pink rabbit lovingly. "Ano… Ryoma-kun. Do you really think carrying a stuff toy around is childish?"

"Yes."

Sakuno looked disappointed.

Suddenly a pebble hit him on the head. He looked around and found Kikumaru, Momoshiro, and Inui crouched behind one of the park bushes – they were glaring at him.

Ryoma sighed, "I mean no."

Sakuno smiled.

Admittedly, Ryoma felt quite relieved when he saw Sakuno brighten up. Then there was silence between the two once more... and another pebble had hit him. He swivelled around and found Momoshiro holding a piece of paper saying 'Start a conversation! You can ask more about her! Like for instance, the name of her rabbit!' Ryoma narrowed his eyes at the suggestion and decided to ignore them. As soon as he did that, three more pebbles had hit him.

Ryoma acquiesced.

"What's the name of your rabbit?" he asked in a mumble, embarrassed of his stupid question.

With a blush on her face, Sakuno beamed at him for starting a conversation. Ryoma couldn't resist staring at her smile. "His name is Fuji."

Now that made Ryoma scowl.

"Fuji?"

"Mhmm... because Fuji-senpai gave it to me," Sakuno replied happily. Ryoma could feel his blood pressure go up as he remembered the time they exchanged gifts. Everyone gave her something; well, technically not everyone since he got chickened, but that was not the point. Why was Sakuno so fond of this one?

"Why do you always bring it along with you?"

"I-It's cute."

"But why that one?"

"Because—"

"Why not the duck?"

"Ano…"

"Or the cat?"

"Er…"

"The bear?"

"…"

"The dog?"

"..."

"Why that?" Ryoma wasn't able to stop himself from asking these questions. Why the rabbit? Why FUJI'S gift?

Sakuno was taken aback at the influx of questions. Ryoma was unexpectedly talkative today. "Ano…" She was a bit frightened to answer Ryoma now for fear of another outburst. "Ano… because it's pink."

Suddenly, another pebble hit the currently vexed Ryoma. He whirled around and found himself looking at Momoshiro who was mouthing, 'Stop doing that! You're scaring her!'

Ryoma heaved a long sigh. They had wanted him to talk. Now when he was just asking simple questions, they reprimand him! He decided to ignore any pebbles that would hit him from now on. He diverted his attention Sakuno who was fidgeting with her skirt, highly tensed. It seemed like he _did_ scare her. But admittedly he felt relieved when Sakuno said that she was fond of the rabbit merely because it was pink.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Sakuno faced him, rather surprised. "A-Ah… why are you saying sorry, Ryoma-kun?" She smiled at him warmly.

Ryoma lowered the brim of his cap to hide his face. He could feel it – his face was going warm. "Nothing," he replied.

_After several minutes…_

"And one time, Fuji and I went to the beach to watch the sunset," Sakuno narrated.

Ryoma had to repeatedly tell himself that Sakuno was talking about the rabbit. Not Fuji. The rabbit! _I'm going insane_, he thought to himself.

Suddenly, Sakuno turned to him with a hopeful look on her face. "Would you like some ice cream, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma shrugged. "Wait here," The boy was already to stand up when Sakuno shook her head.

"No… I'll buy. My treat," She smiled, hugging the pink rabbit closer. "How 'bout you Fuji? Would you like some ice cream?

Ryoma stared at Sakuno incredulously but eventually turned away and grunted. _Tsk. That rabbit is starting to get on my nerves_. Sakuno was about to head to the ice cream parlor when, "Are you going to bring that with you?" Ryoma asked, pointing at the pink rabbit in Sakuno's arms.

She nodded.

"It might get lost. Just leave it here," he offered, surprising Sakuno and bewildering the boys behind the bushes.

"Okay," Sakuno relented and handed Ryoma the rabbit, after which, she headed off to the ice cream store.

"Psst… Momo. Why did o'chibi become so kind?" Eiji asked his fellow spy.

Momoshiro shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and see," he replied.

Just at that moment, Ryoma made his first few signs of movement with the stuffed-rabbit. There was a bulldog roaming around the area with his owner. Having a devious intention in mind, Ryoma had surprisingly thrown the fluffy toy towards the bulldog, thus indicating the end of Fuji the rabbit.

Momoshiro and Eiji's mouths hung open... then they started laughing.

"Note: Echizen hates rabbits," Inui told himself as he scribbled on his notebook.

Ryoma seemed a bit more relieved when he had killed Fuji the rabbit. But he dreaded to see Sakuno's face when she came back without her precious toy in sight. Right at that moment, Sakuno had returned with two cones of strawberry ice cream. Not noticing the bulldog killing the bunny, she passed by the murder scene and handed Ryoma his cone. The boy tried his best to look as innocent as possible.

"Ryuuzaki… Sorry," he said softly. "I couldn't do anything to save him," Ryoma pointed at the still raging bulldog that was mercilessly killing Fuji the rabbit.

Sakuno suddenly dropped her ice cream cone and intended to save her rabbit when Ryoma grabbed her arm. "No."

"Fuji!" Sakuno was sobbing.

"Ryuuzaki."

"FUJI!"

* * *

"Achoo!"

"Aniki, are you alright?" Yuuta asked his brother, concerned.

Fuji nodded his head. "Maybe someone's just saying my name at the moment."

* * *

Ryoma had received several blows from dozens of pebbles thrown to him by the people behind the bush. He wasn't actually intending to make Sakuno cry. Her reaction was far more exaggerated than he expected.

He sighed. "Sorry," he apologized.

"A-Ah… It's okay, Ryoma-kun. It wasn't your fault Fuji died," Sakuno said as she finally composed herself from her relentless crying. She wiped the stray tears around her eyes. "Besides, that bulldog was really scary. I-It's not a surprise we couldn't get Fuji back."

"Hn," He looked away, feeling rather embarrassed and guilty for what he did. He couldn't help it. The rabbit annoyed him so much.

"I'm sorry. I'm such a crybaby."

"Yeah." Several pebbles were thrown at him again.

He looked at Sakuno, afraid that she would start crying again. But luckily she had not heard his comment. She was busily staring at something under the bench. It was a centipede.

_Gross. _Ryoma scrutinized Sakuno's reaction, expecting to see the intent to kill the insect. But nope, nothing like that happened. Something far worse happened.

"Since I lost Fuji the rabbit, I would name you Fuji the centipede."

Sounds of thud were heard from behind the bushes as Ryoma tried his best to keep his remaining sanity. How ridiculous! Fuji was now a centipede!

* * *

"Achoo!"

"Ah, aniki… you might have a cold," Yuuta looked at his brother.

"Nah. It's just that someone really enjoys talking and thinking about me," Fuji said with a smile.

* * *

"Ah! What are you doing?" Ryoma asked annoyed. He was getting enough of this naming objects! Sakuno was petting the centipede! Could it possibly be that he was losing to an insect?

Sakuno grinned with a slight blush on her face. "Ano… I'm making friends with Fuji the centipede," Ryoma looked at Sakuno as if she had grown another head. "Mou… why are you looking at me like that, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma sighed for the hundredth time that afternoon. "Give me that!" He opened the palm of his hands, waiting for Sakuno to give him the centipede. But the girl refused. His patience was wearing thin. He deceived Sakuno with a plain 'look at that', after which he grabbed the centipede and squished it with his tennis shoes.

"Note: Ryoma hates insects," Inui mumbled behind the bushes, taking note of all the present happenings.

"Ah… where did it go?" she asked, searching under the bench.

"Why do you always name everything Fuji?" Ryoma muttered, feeling both curious and annoyed.

"I had to find a new Fuji because Fuji the rabbit was murdered," Sakuno said as a matter-of-factly. Then the girl broke into a smile. "Ano… would you like me to name something after you too, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma had to blush at this one. But before he could reply, Sakuno had already grabbed another insect from under the bench. "Say hello to Ryoma-kun the ant."

Howls of laughter were heard from behind the bush.

* * *

**A/N:** So what do you think? Haha. Review?

**[Edited]**


End file.
